The Family You Make (Sunrise Cove #1)

She loved goodies.

As she entered, the large room went silent. Interesting. They weren’t a silent bunch. They were highly educated know-it-alls with a social immaturity that came from being in college for half of their lives. She narrowed her eyes. “What?”

It was dinnertime, so the room was fuller than normal. There were staff on the two couches, at the two tables, standing in the small kitchenette area.

All looking at her.

“Did I miss a call?” she asked.

“You won the pool.” This from Mateo. His voice was its usual husky tone, the one that tended to give her goose bumps. Goose bumps she pretended meant he grated on her nerves.

A big fat lie. “Which pool?”

Valid question. Important too. There were at any given time ten to twenty different pools going on at the hospital. Yes, the staff members were swamped and run ragged almost every minute of the day. But in those rare seconds they could socialize, it was almost always about their ongoing wagers.

Could Lonny make it through his shift without one of his four-year-old twins calling 911 to talk to their “daddy.”

Could Rae keep herself from pranking anyone.

Could Mateo manage to not get hit on by a patient or patient’s family member.

Could Charlotte keep herself from going in on a new bet for a whole shift.

Note that the last one had been the only bet she’d failed so far.

“You won for the most compliments in a twenty-four-hour period from non-hospital staff,” Mateo said. “Which I had to double-and triple-check because I still don’t get how your patients and patients’ families never fail to make sure everyone in the hospital knows how amazing you are.”

“You doubt the compliments are genuine?”

His eyes darkened. “No. Because I know exactly how amazing you are.”

The parts of herself she’d closed off squirmed. She ignored those parts. “Then what’s the problem?”

“You’ve won every pool this week.”

“And?” she asked.

“And you’re getting rich off us.”

She laughed and held out her hand for the envelope of cash, not a single regret in her mind because everyone in this room made enough money. “So I’m a little competitive, so what?”

Mateo snorted. “A little? You still haven’t forgiven Montana for beating you out on the number of surgeries you performed in a twenty-four-hour period last week.”

“That’s because she cheated.”

“I did not!” Montana pointed at her with a soda can. “It’s not my fault I got called onto the floor for one last surgery before the end of shift.”

“It was fifteen seconds until the end of your shift. It shouldn’t have counted. In fact, let’s just have a redo.”

Montana suddenly beamed. “Yes, let’s.”

Charlotte nodded her head.

“Ha!” Montana practically bounced up and down as she clapped. “You just lost today’s bet, the one where you promised not to go in a pool today.”

Well, damn.

“Your hot streak is over,” Montana said.

“Temporarily only,” she said.

The crowd went back to talking and eating. Well, everyone except Mateo, who was just watching her, slowly shaking his head.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

“It’s something,” she insisted. “Let’s hear it.”

He looked at her for a long moment. Then he smiled with his eyes. “Maybe another time.”

“Why?”

“You’re not ready.”

And then he walked off. She found herself watching him go. “When will I be ready?”

He turned and caught her staring at his ass, and the smile hit his mouth. “Maybe sooner than I thought.”

AN INCREDIBLY LONG week—which felt like five years—of “rest and relaxation” later, Levi finally escaped the family house for a doctor’s appointment. After an exam and the removal of his stitches, he walked out of the doctor’s office to where Tess was waiting for him in the parking lot. He slid into the passenger seat of her car, relieved as hell.

“Well?” she asked. “Is your head still scrambled?”

“Only slightly. Headaches might be a thing for me for a while yet.” He could live with that. “The good news is my freedom’s been obtained. I’ve been cleared to drive again.” And the relief was nearly overwhelming. He’d forgotten what it’d been like to live at home.

“Prepare for the inquisition, then,” Tess warned. “You know Mom’s been holding back for this very moment, trying her very best not to hound you about Jane, and why she hasn’t checked in on you.”

“Maybe we’ve been texting and calling.”

“Maybe.” Tess looked out at the parking lot. Her voice was flat when she asked, “You’re going to hightail it out of here now, aren’t you.”

“Eventually,” he said. “But not yet.”

She looked over at him, her eyes too shiny. “Not yet?” She sniffed. “Really?”

“Yeah, really.” He was surprised by her show of emotion, and also concerned. It wasn’t like a Cutler to be anything other than “perfectly fine.” “It’ll be another few weeks before I’m fully recovered, and you know Mom wants me to stay until their anniversary party.” She still hadn’t told him what she’d called him up to Tahoe for in the first place, insisting it was nothing for him to worry about while he was recovering. “What’s going on, Tess?”

“Nothing.”

“Try again.”

She sighed. “I didn’t tell Mom and Dad, but Cal and I didn’t have a prenup.” She drew a deep breath. “He took all the money out of our accounts before he ran off to Bali with the babysitter.”

“What the—” He scrubbed a hand down his face. His anger wasn’t going to help her. “What did the police say?”

“Turns out that neither screwing the babysitter nor taking money out of joint accounts is illegal.”